Tickets to a Death
"But dad! I don't want to go to something as childish as that park! If you really want to celebrate my birthday take me to one of those bigger parks like Disney or Universal; AstroLame doesn't suit me at all," a girl no older than the mid-twenties said. She stared the man in front then flipped her hair. She hated children parks ever since hearing about the park seven years ago. The girl's father had passes for them to go, but he grow too sick to travel to the park. He went to the doctors at the same time they would have been at the park for a small flu-like infection. "Oh, come now, dear. I want to celebrate your birthday and make up for that old trip we missed, remember?" The man asked and she nodded with a grunt. "I know it's not something you like to talk about, but I really want to make it up to you; I want to take you to the grand opening of the park of your childhood." "If you want to make it up, then take to me a rave and wait outside, because I'm not going to that damn park!" The girl screamed at the man and stormed off. He sighed and felt the tickets in his pocket; he remembered when she wasn't as spoiled as she is now. It must have been that trip to the eighth grade formal she went to that changed her, and that damn Chris McKormic. "That little brat," the man started thinking aloud, "changed my girl when he agreed to date her. I sometimes wish I.. wish I was there to save her from his evil." The man stood in silence and sighed again; he had to get rid of the tickets now, there's no way his little girl would agree now. He stood straight up, angered, and reached for his hat from the table next to him. He placed it on and grabbed his car keys from the small dish on the stool next to the door. He opened the door and slammed it close as he, too, stormed off towards an unknown destination. ---- "Hey, dad, what are you getting me for my graduation?" Bessie asked as she stood in the doorway to the office of the dojo. "There's this new park opening tomorrow, and I know you love spending time with me at these kinds of parks; why don't we go there for my graduation?" He looked up at her from the bills and frowned; she knew that frown all too well. "I'm sorry, Bessie, but it's not like I don't want to go; it's that we can't afford too. We're lucky to not have to pay for your education; we would have to if it weren't for your brilliant mind," Paul said as he drew her head in and rubbed it with his knuckles. He released her and then sighed. "We're at an all time low for subscriptions and I'm afraid we're not going to have enough to buy food. Say," he moved to the edge of the chair and smiled. The dark black hair covering his blue eyes shifted to the right and he saw his daughter's green eyes staring up at him. "If you can get tickets for the opening of the park, we'll go. Sound like a deal? Although destroyed by that, Bessie smiled and nodded. "Alright, dad. I'll definitely get those tickets now!" She tightly closed her hands and smiled more. She turned and the red hair followed her movement. She ran out of the room and left her father alone with the bills. ---- The man continued down the street. Thoughts about his daughter and that demon filled his mind and blocked all the other senses from working properly. He saw a stone and kicked it down the sidewalk, then walked up to it again and kicked it. He repeated the process until he arrived at the intersection. He put his hands into his pockets and felt the tickets' ridged edges; so much effort for nothing. He was pissed off, sure, very pissed; he was pissed off at the demon though and what his angel has become. "Watch it, you fucking shit!" A driver yelled at the man. The latter didn't even notice he continued into the walkway and stood in the middle of the left lane. The man continued forward until he was safely halfway in the middle of the walkway. He wiped his eyes; his vision became blurry from the tears streaming down his face. "What's wrong, mister?" A young voice asked. The man removed his hands and looked around. As he began to think he had just heard it, a small tug on his pant leg made him look down. He saw a little boy no older than seven standing next to him. "Why are you crying?" "Oh, it's nothing, kid. I'm just upset, that's all. As for you, why are you all alone? Where are your parents?" The man asked as he rested one knee on the pavement. "They left me on the corner. Daddy doesn't want me, and mommy hates me," the little boy began and looked to the corner, "they said 'to go find a new family', but I don't want a new mommy and daddy. I want my old mommy and daddy." Tears swelled up in the boy's eyes and he gently grabbed the man. "I want my loving mommy and daddy." "Alright, son, calm down," the man gently pushed the boy from him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue. The boy quickly grabbed it and wiped his eyes like his mother used to. "How about we go and get you to the police so they can help you find the parents that left you? We could also get you ice cream on the way." "Thank you mister!" The boy exclaimed and grabbed the man's hand. The man stood and started to lead the boy to the other sidewalk. He continued and turned left, knowing the route all too well; the police station was only two blocks away. ---- Bessie continued down the street with no intentions of a specific destination. She was, however, determined to get those tickets for her father. She passed by the electronic store next to the dojo and continued past the Mega-Mart. She passed a man as he held a child's hand, a woman who pushed a stroller, and many other small time citizens she's seen all through her trips around town. She turned right and continued down the street; she was met then with a four-way intersection at the middle of the original road. She looked left then right and left again; she walked forward one step then another but stopped immediately when she felt the breeze of a black SUV speeding by. The car whizzed to the left and up the road she had already come down. Seeing no other cars, she continued to the middle of the cross walk and looked down. At her feet were two ivory and golden tickets, both all access passes for the new theme park opening up in a day. She looked up and then around; there was no one around that she could see. She bent down and picked them up cheerfully and ran back up the street and to the left; her last destination was to the dojo and eventually to the park with joy and life. ---- The man with the child faced the intersection before them and gulped. There was the police station, at the other side of the cross walk. The little boy let go of the man's hand and started running across the cross walk, ignoring all the shouts from the man. At the other end of the intersect, a black SUV with a drunken driver dared the red light and continued. The man, as he saw the SUV, ran forward and pushed the boy of the way. His body went into a shock as the bumper pushed the man forward past the cross walk and onto the pavement. The man fell on his back and felt the pain surge through his body as he felt the first set of wheels crush his internal organs. He didn't feel the second set, hell, he didn't even feel the ground. His were fading to black but the silhouette of the child made him smile before it all went to black. ---- Inside the police station, one of the officers saw the collision and alerted the rest of the team. The officer that saw the collision and one standing in the main foyer rushed out to investigate. The second officer nearly heaved when he saw the flattened abdominal of the man of the ground. He ran back in and grabbed the phone of the wall. He dialed the only number he knew by heart. "Hello, this Adkins, go ahead." The voice on the other end said. "I need you to come down here right away, sir! There's been a hit-and-run right out front of the station!" The officer said. "Stay put, I'll be right away." Adkins said and hung up the phone. He stood from his desk, his stomach nearly got stuck under the desk. He grabbed his hat and headed out his office door. He looked back at it and read to himself softly. 'William Adkins'. His feet pounded the steps as he flew down the stairs in the right-wing. He pushed himself to get to the crime scene without stopping to catch his breath, but those inhalers always crept up on him. He stopped halfway on the first floor and reached for his back pocket; he felt around, but he felt nothing there. He remembered it suddenly: he had left the inhaler on the corner of his desk. It was too late to get it now, he would just have to go to the crime scene without it. He pushed forward and turned left; there, he then met officer that called him. "Thank god you made it in time. The body's right outside and it's really flattened. I'm sure the kid was in disbelief or something when he saw the man get hit." The officer said. Adkins nodded (though he slightly ignored the officer's words) and proceeded toward the glass double doors. He pulled them towards him and stepped out. His nose filled with the smell of blood; he knew the smell too well. He turned back to the officer and said: "Make sure you call Blackstock too, we're going to need him to investigate." Adkins closed the doors and looked at the body. The man was an older man, in his late forties and already graying. Adkins squat down and felt the pockets of the man. He felt the bulge and pulled out the man's wallet. Inside was his driver's license (Andrew Gregson, forty-seven, lived over on Elm Drive) and a photo of the daughter from her childhood. "Sir," the officer from before said, "I alerted Blackstock and he'll be on his way." "Good," Adkins said slowly as he stood up and turned to the officer. "Find out who this women is for me, please? Make sure you get Blackstock to talk to her. I will not be able to, as I'm being forced to work at that new park. Good luck on this case, alright Officer Moon?" Moon scrambled to salute his commander and squeaked out: "Ye-yes sir!" Adkins smiled and patted the officer's shoulder before walking back inside the precinct.